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I often hear onions are extremely good for your health. so i was wondering if it was really so. i googled onion and here's what i discovered. looks like onion is your must-eat vegetable to prevent heart diseases, cancer, colds, and a lot more!
Onion is characterized by rich content of thiosulfinates, sulfides, sulfoxides, and other odoriferous sulfur compounds. The cysteine sulfoxides are primarily responsible for the onion flavor and produce the eye-irritating compounds that induce lacrimation. The thiosulfinates exhibit antimicrobial properties. Onion is effective against many bacteria including Bacillus subtilis, Salmonella, and E. coli. Onion is not as potent as garlic since the sulfur compounds in onion are only about one-quarter the level found in garlic.
Still, new research has revealed that onion helps remove bad cholesterol from the body, which can cause heart attacks and strokes. At the same time red onions retain the body's good cholesterol, which help protect against heart disease. Likewise, onions may lower blood lipids and blood pressure. besides, onions are a rich source of flavonoids, substances known to provide protection against cardiovascular disease.
Some parts of the world where onion consumption is high have even been shown to have much lower cancer rates. Like in China, where people eat more onions and garlic than anywhere else in the world, the risk of stomach cancer is 40% lower than average.
Onions have a variety of medicinal effects. Early American settlers used wild onions to treat colds, coughs, and asthma, and to repel insects. In Chinese medicine, onions have been used to treat angina, coughs, bacterial infections, and breathing problems.
Onions are also used for the treatment of poor appetite and to prevent atherosclerosis. In addition, onion extracts are recognized by WHO for providing relief in the treatment of coughs and colds, asthma and bronchitis. Onions are known to decrease bronchial spasms. An onion extract was found to decrease allergy-induced bronchial constriction in asthma patients.
Onions are a very rich source of fructo-oligosaccharides. These oligomers stimulate the growth of healthy bifidobacteria and suppress the growth of potentially harmful bacteria in the colon. In addition, they can reduce the risk of tumors developing in the colon.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, Western Yellow, New York Bold, and Northern Red onions have the richest concentration of flavonoids and phenolics, providing them with the greatest antioxidant and anti-proliferative activity of 10 onions tested. The mild-tasting Western White and Vidalia onions had the lowest antioxidant content and lowest anti-proliferative activity. The consumer trend to increasingly purchase the less pungent, milder onion varieties may not be the best, since the onions with a stronger flavor and higher astringency appear to have superior health-promoting properties.
but they are really good for health. 
